April 20, 2006

E-A Sports, Its in the Game (TM)

Starbury. Entrepreneur. Spoiled. Loser. Knick.

I love the contrast between college and pro ball.

In college basketball, the end of the regular season is punctuated with games that count. Whether it be for momentum, pride, or improving your upcoming conference tournament seeding, the college teams play it all the way out.

Not so much in the NBA. The most pathetic example came just the other night with the Grizzlies-Clippers game. The goal of the game the other night was to tank the game. The “winner” got a date with the fourth seeded, 60-22 Dallas Mavericks in the upcoming playoffs, while the “loser” gets the third seeded, 44-38 Denver Nuggets. Let that sink in just a moment. The Nuggets get a higher seed despite being 16 games worse than Dallas. Why? Denver doesn’t have San Antonio (63-19) in their division, Dallas does.

Back to the point – the game was a farce. Players sat out due to “injury”. The stands were half-filled at best and some other teams around the league had to use gimmicks to fill those half of the seats. (Dallas, as usual, having the coolest giveaway of plane tickets, courtesy of American Airlines, the arena namesake in Big D.)

This gets me thinking. I love sports video games and we have an untapped market.

Should there be a Sim Game: Tank Mode in the next EA Sports NBA platform? Choose this option and your stars come down with “injuries”, plucky rookies suddenly boost their stats and the stands empty out in the 2nd quarter.

Surely, Ballers will pick this up along with their Sim Game: Screw the Fans at Appreciation Day. Choose this and your prima donnas suddenly aren’t available in your starting line up. Then, surprise, they show up in street clothes (pure Baller threads, I am sure, complete with bling) at halftime to a chorus of boos.

You can even go into Coach and/or GM mode!

Coach: Sim Season: Acid Reflux Excuse.Bail out when your team tunes you out.

Maybe everything isn't confined to the NBA:

(Also, available in the College format –Coach: Sim Season: Sudden Back Problems/Exhaustion.Use this when your non-talented freshman blows town for the bling, leaving you with walk-ons and Rudy’s.)

GM Season Mode: Blow Money On Bums.Try to win your league with nothing but malcontents and rookies. The perfect solution to crush an egotistical coach and prove you know nothing about running a team – even when you were the point guard as a player.

Think big! Become David Stern, and run the NBA with an iron fist!

NBA Prez Mode: Hard Baller. Threaten a league city to pull their franchise unless they structure they build another fancy, never-filled arena.